An Explanation of the Creed

 

I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father; And He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets.

In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.

Amen.

 

                The Creed. The Symbol of Faith. Perhaps no other document outside of the Holy Scripture is so much beloved and well known to Christians. Especially those of us in the Orthodox Faith. The Creed is the lifeblood of the Church, it shapes it, gives it its purpose and its mission. It confesses everything we need for salvation. While rummaging through another of Father Spyridon Bailey’s books I was once again compelled to write an article. This time not so much a book review of “Small Steps into the Kingdom” which is the book for anyone interested. No, this time I was compelled to write an article because it is extremely important for the truth to be proclaimed. The Nicene Creed is just that truth.

                The Nicene Creed, more commonly known as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is the creed proclaimed by the Church Fathers in Nicaea in what is today Turkey but was once a part of Greece. The Council was formed to stop the spread of heresy and to establish the basis for everything that Christ had taught and had been passed down from one bishop to the next. Most protestants will be interested to learn that the Church was already an established hierarchy by the time this council was established, and more so when the canon of scripture was established.  The Church in turn chose their successors to from among the honorable men, and in turn the process has continued until this very day. These group of bishops, the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council not only reaffirmed the Faith that had already been preserved by God through them but reaffirmed the faith for all generations. The Nicene Creed is and will forever be the vow of all Christians who truly place their faith in Christ and believe in the true wholeness of the Church.

                Let’s take the first statement. I believe. This isn’t a group of people talking about something they think or want to think is real. This is actual wholehearted belief. It is something as I have mentioned before worth dying for. I believe, means that you not only think it, that you also dwell on it, and that you would act on it. It is the very fiber of your being. The statement I believe, means your whole soul is committed to the words that come after it. If not, you are a Pharisee and a hypocrite. You are paying service with lips, not with actions and you certainly have no place in the Kingdom.

                The second phrase-In One God. Christians do not have a pantheon of gods, a whole host of gods who rule the stars, the air, the winds, the trees, the forges and the lightning. No, there is but One God, whose name is the Most High. He is the source of all beings, the source of all life, the source of all light. He is called the Father of Lights in one of my favorite prayers the priest prays. One God, nothing other than Him can sit on the throne of our hearts. He is called Father, Creator, Almighty. These are descriptions, they describe who God is. We cannot know God in his essence, but we can know God in how he works. He is the Father of us all, whether we acknowledge that reality or not, He Is. He is also Almighty, full of might. Nothing is impossible for God. He does what he wishes, and he wishes what he does.  He cannot contradict himself; he cannot do what is outside his nature. He is who He is. He is also Creator. The trees, the birds, the fish, and yes humans are his creation. He gives us the nous to let us flourish and grow in Him, to mature and become citizens of Paradise.  Even the invisible the Creed says, those things that the human eye cannot perceive are created by Him. The spiritual realm, the realm where the angels work and do the bidding of God is all his domain. Nothing in and of itself can do anything without the permission of God.

                Moving forward in the Creed, we get to the part about Jesus. Now this was crucial in the earliest days of the Church, because as I have said before there were those who denied both the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. Light of Light-I’ve already said God is Father of Lights. He is the creator of everything, and light is one of those things. So Jesus being Light of Light confirms his status as God. But then the Council really hammered the point home, when they said True God of True God. Confirming that Jesus was indeed God, not some created being like the Jehovah’s Witnesses would have you believe. Incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, again confirming that Jesus was both human and divine. But also granting Mary the title of Theotokos, the Mother of God. Then there are those who like the Muslims believe that Jesus did not die, but rather turned someone else into a copy of Jesus and was not crucified. The Church Fathers reaffirm the scriptures as the Scriptures reaffirm the Creed when it says he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried. Yes, Christ actually died. He suffered, it wasn’t a mirage, it wasn’t some trick laid on by the eyes, it happened, and Christ was buried. His tomb at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem can still be seen to this day. It is not the “garden tomb” that is promulgated by some protestant Christians.  He rose again on the third day after. Yes, he was dead is now alive. Revelation says as much. His ascension is recorded in the Book of Acts, and Jesus spoke often about His Second Coming. He will return. He will judge the living and dead and His Kingdom has no end.

                Now we get into the controversial portion of the creed. It was bound to happen. And in the Holy Spirit the Lord, the Creator of Life, Who proceeds from the Father.  Now all you Roman Catholics and some of you protestants just had your minds either blown or they exploded in a fit of rage. You’ll say to me he proceeds from the Father and the Son.  Actually…. No. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, and not from Jesus Christ. The filioque as you would put it, was only added later and at the condemning by the eastern patriarchs and only accepted by Rome. The Holy Spirit is and always will be God, and in saying that he proceeds from Jesus Christ only diminishes His role within the Trinity.  

                In one holy catholic and apostolic church. First there are not many churches. There are many faith traditions within Christianity, but only One Church, the Orthodox Christian Church. We are not Eastern Orthodox, though some call us that. We are catholic, with a small c to avoid confusion with the Roman Catholics. We are a universal church, we can be found on every continent, in almost every country and every land. The Church is holy, because it was established by Christ, not by man. It is apostolic, because we have an unbroken line of succession from the apostles to the current bishops today. For example, Patriarch Bartholomew is the 270^th Patriarch of Constantinople, founded by St. Andrew, brother of St. Peter. Theodore II of Alexandria is the 115^th successor, meaning the 116^th Pope of Alexandria, founded by St. Mark who the wrote gospel that bears his name. So, you see the Church is reaffirming what is already believed, and was established at this point in time.

                Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Again self-explanatory. We understand that baptism is a crucial aspect of salvation, not just a mere symbol. It is our entrance into the Church, our act of faith that admits into the mysteries of the church. Without baptism there is no salvation. There is a baptism not of water, but of blood, the blood of the martyr which the church teaches as well. So baptism here is not a baptism of the Holy Spirit, but rather, water that Christ spoke about with Nicodemus. The Resurrection of the dead.  We all accept that Christ will return and will resurrect the dead when he comes. The dead shall rise first and then those who are alive. The life of the age to come means the eternal life. The life we have beyond this mortal being and spend with Christ in glory.

 

So, there you have it. A simple explanation of the Creed. I hope that you get a chance to continue growing in the faith and will love as Christ loves.

 

Amen.